Today is Madaraka Day when Kenya celebrates getting self-government on June 1, 1963, prior to full independence on December 12.
Madaraka means self-government but it also carries the sense of responsibility, duty and obligation. This responsibility is not just national but collective. Each of us as individuals carries part of that responsibility.
So Madaraka Day is a good time to ask ourselves what we have personally done to make Kenya a better place?
Many good people in Kenya labour diligently for the good of all. But many grabbers extort from the public and drain the state coffers.
Kenya has not fulfilled its full development potential partly because of high income inequality. It is one of the most unequal countries in Africa. The rich are extraordinarily well-off and the poor have virtually nothing.
If society were more equal, it would become healthier with less crime, corruption and disorder. That does not mean communism with all goods equally owned. It means greater investment in health and education at all levels, so that all Kenyans could be served by first-class hospitals and schools. If this happened, this would help discharge the responsibilities of Madaraka.
Quote of the day: "I was one of the many horses pulling the wagon and couldn't escape left or right because of the will of the driver."
Adolf Eichmann
The Nazi war criminal was hanged in Israel on June 1, 1962
